Examines advantages, disadvantages, and preliminary assessments of the training model and the consulting/training (CONTRA) model approaches to providing oral communication instruction in Oral Communication across the Curriculum programs. Recommends the CONTRA model. (SR)

Increasingly, business and education professionals recognize the centrality of oral communication in everyday activities, and such a competency is best developed through repeated instruction and application. However, few colleges or universities have implemented speech communication laboratories, and where they do exist, they are often constrained…

Many non-speech faculty lack adequate training in oral communication instruction, thus creating a major obstacle to developing programs of oral communication across the curriculum (OCXC). OCXC programs have attempted to ameliorate this problem by providing training programs or consulting/training (CONTRA) programs for non-speech faculty. The…

The Oral Communication Across the Curriculum (OCXC) program is a university-wide program using oral communication activities to enhance learning of course content and to improve oral communication skills of participating students. Implementing OCXC programs in postsecondary institutions involves planning, publicizing, gearing up, conducting,…

The Oral Communication Program (OCP) was established at Radford University, Virginia, in 1988 as a comprehensive program of oral communication across the curriculum. The OCP has generated student and faculty involvement using a variety of information outlets such as meetings, retreats, and communication-intensive courses. Faculty from the…